Houston Ship Channel fully opens after barge collision

The City of Seabrook reported that the Houston Ship Channel is fully open after two barges involved in a collision with a tanker last week has been removed.

Unified Command, which removed the barges, said the movement was completed in less than four hours and there have been no reports of release of product in the water.

The safety zone surrounding the wreck has also been lifted.

The 755-foot tanker Genesis River collided with two barges being pulled by a tugboat, causing one barge to capsize and piercing another, which then began leaking a feedstock blend called Reformate similar to automobile gasoline, said Greg Beuerman, an assistant public information officer for Kirby Inland Marine, which owns the barges.

After the collision, 9,000 barrels of a gasoline blend spilled into the water from one of the barges after the wreck.